(#5611) Happiness and stress, my two companions

      I am sure most of us are in this special grouping. We have much to be thankful for while also constantly under some form of stress in our lives. There is no escaping either if we are living life with a passion for the things that matter to us. More often that not the stress is the greater experience but not always. The happiness is there even if sometimes it is just under the surface. Usually the happiness is seen when we smile without having to be provoked to smile. In know I carry myself with a light heart toward my day and even when work is fully my task I am still enjoying the day and all that it brings.
     The stress on the other hand is the pressure I put on myself to accomplish my ambitions and goals. Planning and executing those desires is often filled with juggling some things to better accommodate others. We all have a process for how we create our imaginings so the stress level is often higher or lower depending upon our resources and ability to multitask. I seem to be able to rationalize my stress levels to less than high but it is not always true. Some activities demand more stress from me given time constraints and the sensitivity of the outcome. As I am getting older there is another factor that comes into play that being my health.
     I am physically less the man I started out being so my process for dealing with stress is an evolving condition. I wish my stress would reflect the happiness within me that needs no evolving but such is not the circumstance. Pulling back on my hopes and dreams at times is prudent when my health is showing signs of disturbance. I recognize my frailty and endeavor to address it appropriately. Regardless of a changing dynamic within me, my life is good and how I approach the happiness and stress within it again suggests my willingness to consistently accept reality at its face value no matter the form. I am no immortal soul, so taking good care that I am progressing further into happiness and less into stress is becoming my necessarily acceptable solution.